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United States Presidential Election, 2020 (Dane)
The 2020 United States Presidential Election '''was the 59th quadrennial election in the United States in which the President is elected. On the Democratic side, Bernie Sanders pulled off a major primary upset after winning Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada in the primaries, then storming into Super Tuesday and taking 8 states. Bernie Sanders clinched the nomination in late May, when a win in Kentucky over Former Vice President Joe Biden gave him the necessary delegates to take the nomination. On the Republican side, Incumbent President Donald Trump received token opposition, but this opposition notably included former Representative Joe Walsh and former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld. With the nomination of Bernie Sanders, many mainstream political pundits expected a tough path for the Democratic Party. After the convention, Bernie Sanders led Donald Trump 49-46 in most major polls, but was projected to lose the electoral college. However, despite initial expectations, Senator Bernie Sanders continued to gain ground on Donald Trump. In the first Presidential Debate in September, Sanders successfully pummeled Trump on taxes, giving him some momentum, albeit progress was slow and polls were basically stagnant. However, a fatal economic crash in October 2020 was the final nail in the coffin for Donald Trump and co, as Bernie Sanders continued to surge ahead. He ultimately led by 7 percentage points in the days leading up to the election, and proceeded to win the popular vote by nearly 10 points on Election Day. The effects of Sanders' victory spread downballot too, causing Democrats to gain 34 house seats and 9 senate seats, taking control of the entire government and giving President Sanders free rein. Nominations Democratic Party Primary * '''Bernie Sanders, Senator from Vermont (Nominee) * Joe Biden, Former Vice President * Elizabeth Warren, Senator from Massachusetts * Pete Buttigieg, Former Mayor of South Bend, Indiana * Michael Bloomberg, Former Mayor of New York City, New York * Andrew Yang, Entrepreneur * Amy Klobuchar, Senator from Minnesota With President Donald Trump considered vulnerable, the Democratic Field was large and crowded. Despite this, few to no changes occurred in the field's overall composition, with Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden, and Elizabeth Warren remaining on top for the entire duration. Biden, the Vice President of former President Barack Obama, was initially favored and led in most polls up until Iowa. However, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders struck from a 2nd place position, successfully passing Biden by winning the first three states- Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada. Sanders then grew this lead across the midwest and northeast on Super Tuesday. From here, Sanders continued to cruise to the nomination, securing the necessary delegates following a Mid-May win in Kentucky. At the convention, the Sanders campaign selected California Senator and former Presidential Candidate Kamala Harris as its Vice Presidential nominee, arguing that she would appeal to minority and moderate voters who backed Biden or some other candidate in the primary. Bernie Sanders.jpg Official portrait of Vice President Joe Biden-0.jpg Elizabeth Warren, official portrait, 114th Congress-0.jpg Pete Buttigieg.jpg Mike Bloomberg official.jpg Erskine Andrew-Yang NationSwell 1092.jpg Amy Klobuchar, official portrait, 113th Congress.jpg Republican Party Primary * Donald Trump, 45th President of the United States (Nominee) * Joe Walsh, Former Representative from Illinois * Bill Weld, Former Governor of Massachusetts Donald Trump faced nominal opposition in his re-election campaign in the primary. Several primary challengers had been floated, including former Ohio Governor John Kasich. Ultimately, Kasich declined to run and left Joe Walsh, a former Illinois Representative, and Bill Weld, a former Massachusetts Governor, as his main opposition. Some states declined to have primaries, but Donald Trump won the Republican nomination again with about 88% of the vote. Donald Trump-0.png General Election The nomination of Bernie Sanders from the Democratic Party was initially expected, by mainstream pundits, to make Donald Trump's re-election path easier. Polls initially gave Sanders a 3-point lead out of the convention, and appeared to remain nearly stagnant despite heavy campaigning from both candidates. The candidates battled on the issues of health care, education, abortion, gun rights, and foreign policy. The candidates initially competed over three rust belt states- Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, but battlegrounds shifted significantly in the late stages of the campaign. In the first debates, on September 5th at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, Sanders won in most aspects of the debate, giving the Democrats sight momentum. On October 14th, 2020, the American Economy officially entered a recession following a 2 percent drop in the Dow Jones. Sanders' lead over Trump continued to Balloon from there, reaching nearly 7 points average on election day, then winning by about 9 percent in the popular vote. In the electoral college, Bernie Sanders became the first Jewish President, and the first President from Vermont, as well as the oldest man elected to the position. In addition, he was the first Democrat to carry Georgia since 1992, the first Democrat to carry Arizona since 1996, and the first Democrat to carry North Carolina and Nebraska's 2nd district since Obama's 2008 victory. Results